Occupy Comic Con: The 40 Hottest Nerds, Fanboys, and Cosplayers in New York [Slideshow]

Age: 21
Occupation: Student
How long did it take you to put the costume together? "About a week. It was kind of last minute."
How often do you go to conventions? "Two or three times a year."
Are you always a Vulcan? "No, I do multiple costumes."
Boyfriend? "Yes, he's right over there."
Did you guys meet at a convention? "No, we met in Fencing Club."
Age: 22
Occupation: “I'm actually from Canada, and I have a lot of jobs. I work at Toys"R"Us, and I work for the city doing recreational management. It means I basically get to drive a Zamboni for a living. And I bartend."
Are you dressed as a Disney character? "Yes, I’m Flynn from Tangled."
Did you come all the way down from Canada just for Comic Con? "Basically, yeah. I've gone to a few Cons in Canada, and in the states: here, Ohio, Detroit…"
What's your favorite part of Comic Con? "This one? Seeing all the unreleased games, meeting new people. Plus, I come down with a few friends, and leave with about twenty more."
Do you have a significant other? "I did, actually. I broke up with her Monday."
To go mack on girls at Comic Con? "No, it just wasn't working out."
Do you see any attractive women here? "Plenty of attractive women, yes."
Age: 28
Occupation: "I run the operations at GeekChic HQ."
What is that? "We deal in fine wooden furniture for gaming."
What do you think of the convention so far? "I haven't seen anything, I've been in the booth all weekend. But I think this is a good mix of the real hardcore nerds, and the people who are more casual."
Do you have a significant other? "Yes, my wife is actually working at our booth right now."
Age: 19
Occupation: "I work at Medieval Times…I do server work there. I also go to college."
What's your character from? "The anime game The Devil May Cry 4."
Are you in a relationship? "No. I'm pure single…and straight."
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Is Koneko your real name or a character name? "It's my online alias, I guess you could say."
Age: 27
Occupation: "In real life I'm an app developer, but I actually go to a lot of conventions. I run a website called YourAverageNerd.com. I post my cosplay photos on there, I do reviews, I have a podcast. That kind of stuff. I'm all over the place."
What is your costume from? "I'm Sebastian from the Black Butler anime. There's an OVA (original video animation) called Ciel in Wonderland. He's the White Rabbit from that, and that's what I'm dressed as."
How long did you spend on your costume? "This particular one was a couple of months actually. I cobbled it together…I didn't make the dress shirt, that would be ridiculous, but I fashioned the ears together. It's very similar to (the character's) original outfit; the only addition is the tail and the ears…and the tie is different. Those were new things that only took me a couple hours to make. Because he's still wearing his regular outfit, he's just a white rabbit.
Seeing anybody? "I do have a boyfriend. He's not into any of this, so it's kind of funny. Usually it's the boyfriend dragging their girlfriend along to these things. But I'm like 'Nope, I'm going to do this, it's going to be awesome, and you have to like it.'"
Age: 20
Occupation: Student at NYU
So tell us about your Quidditch league: "The International Association for Quidditch started about six years ago, and the World Cup started shortly after that. This year there will be over 100 teams playing on Randall's Island on November 12th and 13th. It's going to be crazy."
How long have you been playing? "I started last year."
Seeing anybody? "I’m not. But the International Commissioner of the Quidditch Association is pretty nice."
Age: 19
Occupation: Student
What's your costume from? "The anime Sweet Pretty Cure."
Are you in a relationship? "Nope. I'm single."
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Age: 19
Occupation: Student
What's your character from? "She's also from Sweet Pretty Cure."
Have you been to Comic Con before? "This will be our second year."
Are you in a relationship? "No."
Age: 19
Occupation: Design student at FIT
What are you dressed as? "Just as myself."
How long have you been going to conventions? "Since 2009...the Anime Festival has gotten a lot better over the years."
Are you in a relationship? "I am. They're not into the Comic Con, though."
Do you get hit on a lot here? ""Oh yeah. 'Can I get your picture? Can I take a picture with you?' And all of that."
Age: "A lady never tells her age."
Are you in a relationship?: "I am, but he's not here right now. He works for the government."
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Age: 25
Occupation: Illustrator and cartoonist
How many years is this at Comic Con for you? "This is my second year at the New York Comic Con."
Are you in a relationship? "Not currently, no."
Age: 22
Occupation: Student
How many years have you been going to Comic Con? "This is actually my first year! I like it..it's pretty badass."
You probably thought you were going to have the most insane costume. "Well I figured: Go big or go home."
Are you in a relationship? "I am not."
Anyone catch your eye today? "There are very many pretty girls here, yes."
Wait, like the guy from SeaQuest? "Yeah, same name."
Age: 30
Occupation: "Nothing. I sit at home."
What are you most excited to see here? "Video games, mostly. Street Fighter X Tekken looks pretty cool."
Are you in a relationship? "No."
Seen anybody you like? "I've seen some hot chicks here, totally."
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Age: 23
Occupation: Part time student, part time worker at UPS
What is your character from? "The King of Fighters series."
How long did you spend on your costume? "Probably in the realm of two weeks. I had to buy most of this stuff."
How much do you think you spent on it, all together? "Just short of $180."
Do you have a significant other? "No, I wish I did."
See any cute girls here? "I'm kind of staring at one right now."
Age: 27
Occupation: : Illustrator for the Critical Millennium series.
Is this your first time at Comic Con "We've been coming here since 2007, but this is the first time we've sold anything. These are our first books."
Are you in a relationship? "I have a girlfriend, she's here today."
Is she dressed up? "No, I think she wanted to though."
Age: 19
What's your character from? "The anime Tenchi Muyo!"
Is this your first time at Comic Con? "No, it's my second time. I love it."
Are you in a relationship?: "Yes, that's my boyfriend, right over there. He's Rick Grimes from The Walking Dead."
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Age: 21
Occupation: "I'm a stock clerk at a supermarket."
So did you meet Tanya at a convention like this? "No, but we do go together."
Age: 22
Occupation: Student
What's your character from? "Street Fighter."
Are you in a relationship? "Yes, I'm dating Tifa Lockhart from Final Fantasy."
Age: 23
Occupation: Student
So you're dressed as a Final Fantasy character? "Yes, Tifa from Final Fantasy 7."
Is this your guys' first year here? "Yeah, we're from Chicago. We were just visiting and it was just coincidence that Comic Con was on, so we were just like 'Why not buy tickets and dress up?'"
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Age: 18
Occupation: Student
Is this your first year at Comic Con? "No, this is my fourth year, actually."
What's your favorite part? "Seeing all the different cosplays and costumes. It's so cool."
Do you have a significant other? "No I don't."
Seen any cute guys? "There's been a couple."
Age: 20
Occupation: "I unload trucks."
Is this your first year? "No, this is my third year."
How much time do you spend getting your costume ready? "Usually a lot more time, but this was made last night. My girlfriend did most of it."
Where is your girlfriend? "She's standing right next to me."
Age: 20
Occupation: Student
What's your costume from?: "Green Lantern."
How much time did you spend getting your costume ready? "This? Probably three or four hours."
Did you meet Jordan at a convention? "We met at a rave."
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Age: 31
Occupation: Financial Adviser
Why aren't you on Wall Street right now? "We actually might be going down there tonight." What is your character from?: "The Dystopia Rising (LARP) game."
Are you in a relationship? "I am, but he's at home today."
Age: 20
Occupation: Intern
What are you most excited to see here? "I'm just here checking stuff out. I've been just roaming, mostly."
Is this your first time at Comic Con?: "Yeah, I've never been before."
Are you in a relationship? "Nope."
Seen anybody you like? "There are a lot cute girls here."
Age: 35
Occupation: "I work for an alarm company, I do dispatch and customer service."
Is this your first Comic Con? "This is my second, my first was three years ago."
How long did you spend on your costume? "This I just bought…I didn't have time to make a costume."
How much did it cost all together? "All in all, I spent about $70."
What are you most excited to see here today? "All the original costumes. And I caught glimpses of a few stars…Eliza Dushku, Colby Smulders."
Do you have a significant other? "I do not, at the moment."
See anyone cute here? "Nah, I'm actually here with my ex-boyfriend. He's not dressed up…he's over there by the gaming tables."
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Age: 18
Occupation: Student at Fordham
How is this a Mario costume? "It's my own personal version of it. My friend and I found a photo online, and we decided to go make matching costumes. So she's Luigi, but she's in California and can't be here."
Are you in a relationship?: "I'm not…but I've seen some cute guys here."
Age: 24
What do you do when you are not a zombie Catwoman? "I'm a zombie at State Scare Haunted House. It's in Bellevue, in New Jersey."
So you do the zombie thing all year round? "No, this just sort of popped up this year and I agreed to it."
Do you have a significant other? "This is my fraternal twin, and sometimes we mate."
Age: 18
What's your outfit from? "Princess Tutu."
Are you in a relationship? "Not currently."
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Age: 22
Occupation: "I just graduated from nursing school."
What is your character from? "Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3."
How long did you spend on making your costume? "I'd say around three weeks."
Do you have a significant other? "I do. He isn't here right now."
Is he not into the whole Comic Con scene? "Oh, no. He definitely wanted to be here, he wanted to be Servbot. He had the whole costume ready, but he ended up having to work."
Age: 21
Occupation: Student
Finally, a costume we recognize! Game of Thrones, right? "Yes. My friend here is Melisandre… she'll be in the second season."
Is this your first year at Comic Con? "No, I used to come here when it was still AnimeFest, before it was added to Comic Con. But it's my first time going to the combined one, and it's overwhelming."
What are you most excited about doing today? "Going to the Dragon Age panel."
Are you seeing anyone currently? "Sadly not."
Seen any attractive prospects here? "I sure have."
Occupation: Sales rep and model for Pendragon Costumes.
What does your job entail? "I get to put people into corsets, which is a lot of fun. I get to tie people up."
Are you into the Steampunk kind of lifestyle? "Not really. Nicole, who is Pendragon Costumes, made this outfit for me to showcase her Steampunk capabilities."
Do you get a lot of guys hitting on you here? "Yes, all the time."
Do you have a significant other? "Nooo…not exactly. Possibly working on one."
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Age: 23
Occupation: Sushi chef
What's your character from? "The anime Gantz."
Are you in a relationship? "I have a girlfriend."
Age: 25
Occupation: That's a secret, it's my civilian identity.
What is your character from? "She’s Aquaman's wife."
How long did you spend on this costume? "It took me about a month to get everything I needed, but only a day to put it together."
Do you have a significant other? "Yes, Aquaman. He's right here."
Age: 24
Occupation: "I work at a comic book store and at a video game store."
How long did it take you to make the Aquaman outfit? "My girlfriend actually made the shirt…I think it took about a day. And I made the belt, which took about an hour."
What's the attraction of Aquaman? Is it just because they haven't made a movie of him yet? "He's pretty big in the comics, and he's really big in this Batman cartoon right now. He's kind of the breakout star. Over the past couple years he's really…risen."
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Age: 19
Occupation: ": I work on the Geek Squad at Best Buy."
What's your character from? "Soul Eater."
Do you have a significant other? "That's my girlfriend over there, she's dressed up as Blair (from Soul Eater)."
Age: 28
Occupation: Graphic designer
What brought you to Comic Con? "I'm just visiting. I'm up from Baltimore with a couple friends."
What do you think of it? "There's a lot of shit…there's just so much stuff."
What's been the most exciting part so far? "I turned around and I was shoulder to shoulder with Jason Mewes. And I was like 'I'm going to take your picture. This is happening. I'm sorry.' But he was really cool about it."
Do you have a significant other? "I do. They are sick at home, wishing they could be here."
Age: 20
Occupation: Costume designer and tattoo artist
What are you doing here today? "I'm working at the Troma stand."
What are you dressed as? "This is just my normal clothes."
Do you usually wear goggles? "Yes, thought at Comic Con I wear my welding goggles. It fits in a little better."
Do you have a significant other? "Nope."
Have you seen any attractive suspects? "Yes! One of the reasons I love Comic Con!”
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Age: 18
What made you want to come to Comic Con this year? "Just for fun. My uncle dressed up as Captain America last year, and I decided to come as a sidekick."
Did you make your costume? "No I'm horrible at making things. I just got everything from all these different websites."
How much did the costume cost? "Around $400, in total."
Do you have a significant other? "No."
Have you seen a lot of pretty girls? "Yes, they all want to take pictures with me. It's just great."
Occupation: Graphic design student at the School of Visual Arts.
What’s your character from? "The anime Gurren Lagann."
How much time did you spend on the costume? "I started in late July."
Do you have a boyfriend? "I do. We're actually selling t-shirts at a booth, so he's working right now."
Age: 24
What’s your character from? "Scott Pilgrim Vs the World."
Do you have a lot of Scott Pilgrim-y guys hitting on you today? "No, not Scott Pilgrim-y guys."
Are you dating anyone? "Not currently, no."
Do you think you could find love here? "Possibly, yeah. Everyone has the same interests."
Photos by Hannah Grant

While Times Square on Saturday evening was turning into a hotbed for civil unrest, the protesters of Occupy Wall Street couldn’t begin to rival in size the event taking place in Javits Center, only several avenues away. While over 100,000 people turned up for New York’s annual Comic Con, the city’s version of the world’s nerdiest dork-fest might have finally begun to hit in the same punching weight of its behemoth San Diego cousin.

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Though can you really call Comic Con a “nerd fest” anymore? This is where networks like Adult Swim and MTV offer sneak-peaks to the new Beavis and Butt-Head. It’s where DC and Marvel funnel all their money to fly out Chris Evans and Mark Ruffalo to talk about Avengers. It’s where every illustrator, cartoonist, costume maker, cosplayer, writer, video game devotee, artist, and Manga obsessed fan can be found. And seriously: if you are under the age of 35 and don’t like one of the above things, you might want to be checked out for signs of early-onset Conservatism.

That’s why we decided to go to Comic Con and once and for all abolish the stereotype of the obese mouth-breathers who attends these conventions. Though at times we felt a little skeeved out about how young these kids looked — it seriously was like walking through the world’s largest suburban mall filled with only Hot Topic stores — we are also duly impressed with how attractive they were.

Seriously, forget about Zuccotti Park. Next year, choose Comic Con.

(Photos by Hannah Grant)

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